Heart & Vascular

Featured Article: 3 Tips to Prevent Heart Disease

Troy Wiedenbeck, center, is one of Renown's many cardiologists on staff.

Troy Wiedenbeck, MD, of Renown Institute for Heart & Vascular Health provides three simple steps you can take right now to help prevent heart disease.

The track to a healthy heart is not a sprint, but a marathon. And if slow and steady truly wins the race, the healthy lifestyle habits you implement today can help you maintain good heart health now and in the future.

And while there are some heart disease risk factors you cannot change — family history, sex or age — there are things you can do to strengthen your heart. Dr. Troy Wiedenbeck, a northern Nevada native who recently joined the team of heart specialists at Renown, offers three simple steps you can take today to help prevent heart disease tomorrow.

1. Exercise. Exercise. Exercise.

You do not need to belong to a gym. In fact, the time spent just driving to the health club could have been all the time you needed to improve your physical fitness and reduce your risk for heart disease — at home in and around your own neighborhood.

2. If you are sitting, stand up.

Stand up for as much of the day as you can, rather than sit. Over time the added calories burned can add up to pounds lost. And that can translate to a decrease in central obesity and thus reduce the risk for heart disease.

Schedule walking meetings. In addition to improving your cardiovascular health, meeting on the go has been shown to improve team performance, focus and creativity.

3. Enliven your diet with healthy foods.

Also try to incorporate nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods that are high in heart-healthy dietary fiber such as beans. One recipe I really enjoy — whole-wheat and blue-corn tortilla tacos filled with black beans, fresh salsa and fat-free cheese topped with cilantro, lime and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

How is People-in-Line Calculated?

FastTrack ER

People-in-Line is the number of patients checked-in and waiting for a physician at a Renown Health ER or FastTrack ER.
We refer to this as our "door-to-doc" time. The number of people in line is updated every 10 minutes.

FastTrack ER

An ER nurse will determine the urgency and complexity of the care you need.
If your condition is less severe and requires no more than one hospital resource (X-Ray, lab tests, etc.) the ER nurse may assign you to a FastTrack ER where you will receive care sooner.

Urgent Care

People-in-Line is the number of patients checked-in at Renown Health Urgent Care waiting to be seen by a healthcare provider.
A patient's wait time may vary.

Urgent Care vs Emergency Care

There may be times when you want to see a healthcare provider right away but don't have serious or life-threatening condition.